On the way to the WTO: deal with Russia nearly finalized, only Taiwan remains

Uzbekistan’s negotiations with Russia on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) are almost complete, with only discussions with Taiwan remaining, the country’s presidential special representative for the WTO, Azizbek Urunov, said.

He noted that last week, a productive meeting was held in Moscow with the Russian negotiation team on pressing issues related to Uzbekistan’s WTO membership, during which significant progress was made.

“The negotiations are now nearly finalized: all major elements have been agreed upon, and only a few technical details require final verification and approval,” Urunov said.

He expressed gratitude to Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Director of the Department for Trade Negotiations Ekaterina Mayorova, Russia’s permanent representative to the WTO Nikolay Platonov, and the Russian team for providing clarifications on key requests and for their constructive participation and support throughout the process.

“As we continue our work, I look forward to achieving the final outcome with the Russian side at the WTO General Council meeting in Geneva this December,” Urunov added.

He also noted that Uzbekistan now only needs to complete bilateral negotiations with Taipei, Taiwan, to finalize its WTO accession.

At the same time, Aziz Urunov and his team are in Washington to advance bilateral cooperation and WTO-related collaboration.